Oil well drilling apparatus



March 4, 1952 G. P. WAGNER 2,588,311

I OIL WELL DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Dot. 28, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l 0 .n.10 M6 w 3 March 4, 1952 G. P. WAGNER 2,588,311

OIL WELL DRILLING APPARATUS I Filed oct. 28, 194e 4 sheets-sheets l N VEN TOR..

@george P Wagner March 4, 1952 G. P. WAGNER 2,588,311

OIL WELL DRILLING APPARATUS Filed oct.. 28, 194e 4 sheets-sheet 4 YZ/ 7o 86\ l IN VEN TOR.

Fig 12 Gal/orge Wagner Patented Mar. 4, 1952 on. WELL DRILLING APPARATUS George P. Wagner, Mount Vernon, N. Y., as-

signor to The Engineering Development Com pany, Incorporated, doing business as Engineering Development Company, Incorporated,

Dallas, Tex. i

Application October 28, 1946, Serial No. 706,253

The invention relates to oil well drilling apel paratus, and more especially to' turbine operated devices of this type.

The ordinary system of oil well drilling involves the rotation of a drill pipe or tubing at the bottom of which the drill bit is secured. During the drilling, mud is pumped downward into this pipe to remove the material loosened by the drill. The disadvantages of this procedure are well recognized, especially when great depths are to be reachedl The inertia of the drill pipeis large, and its rotation requires considerable power. The strain placed on the pipe is very large,A and the pipe must be strong and therefore heavy to prevent it from breaking. If the pipe does break, the expense of removing the broken part from the hole is extensive, and often this broken part cannot be removed so that a new hole must be started. Numerous other drawbacks are well known to those operating in this field.

Several proposals have been made for avoiding many of these difcultie's by mounting a turbine in the lower end of the drill pipe, and attaching 9 Claims. (Cl. Z55-4) the bit to this turbine, the drilling mud being used as the driving medium for this turbine. Such turbines, however, have been complicated and expensive to construct and have not proven a solution to the problem. They have usually beendiiiicult to repair, and especially hard to handle for persons not particularly skilled in the use of such machines, as is true of many oil iield workers. As a result, most drilling is still carried out by the old conventional methods of rotary or cable tool drilling.

. The primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus for oil well drilling which avoids the drawbacks of the conventional method, by the use of a construction which is practical in operation, and which is easy to build,

simple to assemble, and readily repaired if any part is damaged. More especially, the invention contemplates the provision of a turbine driven device of this type vwhich can be taken apart and put back together by a few relatively unskilled workers, so that repairs can be made on the spot without requiring `special handling.

f Anotherohjectof the invention is to provide*` an oil well drillingsapparatus of the turbine type which is so constructed as to be useable at great depths, and under widely differing operating conditions.

,Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel type of oil well drilling turbine, of the multistage type, which is more eilicient in use than thoserheretofore proposedl `and which.

2 .e is formed of parts capable of being produced by simple machining operations, so that the cost of the device is reduced. The invention in this re1- spect further contemplates a novel method of producing these turbine parts, and more particularly the outer parts of a turbine for oil well drilling in which the rotor parts are removable endwise from the stator parts.

One primary feature of the invention lies in the novel relation between the turbine rotor, to which the bit is attached, and through which the drilling mud passes after it has actuated the turbine, and the stator, which is secured to the lower end of the drill pipe. This arrangement is such that the rotor can be removed froml within the stator longitudinally, without disas-l sembling either part. turbine, which must have a very considerable number of stages to be practical, is formed of a rotor part located wholly within a cylinder and a stator located completely without this cylinder;v in contrast with usual oil well turbines in which the rotor blades and the stator blades overlap longitudinally of the device. The turbine is preferably formed of rotor discs or rings, of' equal diameter, in the peripheral surfaces of which are cut grooves forming the turbine blades, these grooves being so shaped as to receive the mud fed to them in a direction substantially tangential to the ring surfaces and to reverse the direction of this iiow, so as to impart energy to the rings; while at the same time the mud' isY directed downward to the next turbine stage, until it reaches the bottom of the turbine, The rotor rings turn within the stator rings, which are similarly formed to receive the mud from` the rotor blades, reverse its direction, turn,V it downwardly, and feed it tangentially `into the next lower set of rotor blades. TheA stator rings all'have an internal diameter greater than the outside diameter of the rotor. With such `an arrangement, the stator and rotor can be assembled separately, "and the rotor then slipped into the' stator, without the necessity of any accurate adjustments between the parts during this assembling-operation, except to get an exact longitudinal. positioning. The prior art devices have normally required an assembly 'of the stator and rotor parts alternately, with special adjustrrn'entv ateach stage. The present device does away with any such necessity, and thus makes the ap` paratus easier to assemble during manufacture and "more readily repaired in the field.

In producing` a turbine of this type, thecutting of the grooves in the inner faces of theouter; or-

For. this` purpose, the` and then piling the rings together so that each.

blade is formed by mating halves in the adjacent side faces of two rings. Itis then -possible to form the half blades from the side of the ring,

and it is entirely unnecessary to :attempt to :support and drive a grinding. wheelin the interior of the ring. Y.

A further object of the invention is to produce a durable machine capable of standing up under the rough usage usual in oil eld operations, and not likely to be thrown out of ad-vv justment by such usage. Still another object is to provide such, a. device which will operate for long periods even when secured on the end Aof a string of pipe stem of very 4great weight. f 'liurther objects and advantages ofthe inventionwill appear more fully .from the following description, particularly when taken in conjunction with Athe accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

In the drawings: Figure "1 Lisa vertical cross-.section through an oilwellshowing Vthe device 4of the present inventonn use. .Figure 2 is a .sdeelevatiort partly `in section, ofthe turbi e drill.

ligure .3 1s Aa crosssection on the line 3 3 o f Fig.. .1,

Eigure .4 .is an enlarged view of apart of the c ross sectional portion o'Figure 1, showing .two eachof the rotorandstator rings.

Figure 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-.-;5 .of Fig. fl.

Figure 7 shows in elevation a part-of -the -outside f aceof one ofthe .rotor rings. Figure shows in .sideelevation a part of the in sideface ofoneof the stator rings. l f

. Figures 9 and 10 show, vin side elevation and in plan view, respectively, the formation of one of .thebladeslots ina rotor ring. l

,Figures ll vand 12 vare similar views showing the f flmaton o f ablade slot in one of the stator rings.. V

The device .consists in general of a stator part 2y .adapted to `be secured to the lower end yof a drill pipe .4, .and a rotor part 6 adapted to carry anysuitable typeof drillbit 8.. f-

'llhe `s ta.to r.p ar.t is composed of a first hollowv upper .bearing section VHJ internally threaded at its Supper end f to engage vthe lower end of* drill p ipeA. The lower end of section l0 is vreduced in diameterl and is externally lthreaded to receivethe internally threaded upper Vend of tur bine section J2. The turbine section has an inter-nal annular shoulder I4 and below this a is mounted Second ,shoulder 156- A bearing I8 inthe lowerendef section l2. y

.Section 'i0 alias .an upwardly direstedshouider. v2l) ,upon which rests a spider consisting ofv al;

.22 having: `.vertically disposed ribs 24 which A ring 26y .ing material.

form 'the complete bearing assembly.

32, 34 respectively, forming with the spaces between ribs 24 a fluid passage past the spider.

The spider at its lower end has an inwardly turned annular shoulder 36, and between this and ring 26 are held the outer members 38 of a Vradial and thrust bearing assembly. .These consist of L-s'haped elements arranged `one above the other and formed of a suitable self-lubricat- These are annular in shape and are keyed to the interior wall ofthe spider as .at.4'0.

The rotor E has near its upper end a shoulder V4,2 on which `rest the inner members 44 of the radial and fthru'stjbearing, which are likewise annular-'and .Lfshape`d and are keyed on the rotor body as at 4E. 'These members mesh with the Aouter members in the manner shown, so as to Above bearingmembers 44 is a split ring 48 engaging in a groove in the rotorand held in position by a..nut..50-threadednn the upperend of the rotor body. .l The rotor body is of somewhat smaller .diameter than .the .inner .diameters of the :drill pipe ..4 and .stator section I0, .so as to `provide a passage for uid..

Below the lower `end of section m,- and'between'section l2 land the rotor body, is a ring 5.2 having .slots .54 therein -which communicate withthe .space 4between section Hl and-theretor, and with the first stator stage .of the turbine. The vstatorstages of the turbine are formedof aseries of .rings 54, :rectangular in section, lying one upon the .next between ring-.52 .and shoulder i4, and keyed to the 4interior wall of-section 1.2. The rotor stages are .formed of rings 56,ofsimilar .,section, lying one v`ufon. the v.other vbetween ring `5 2 Aand vshoulder A58- on the .rotor and keyed to .the .rotor body. The detailed .structure :of these rings will .be described below. It will be noted Ythat the stator rings have .a greater 'internal diameter than -the external diameter lof the rotor rings, :so -that the rotor rings are-completely within, :and ythe stator rings completely without, a -cylinder whose generatrix -isindicated at 6D-6ll in Figure 5. -In any event, for the pur-poses of one ofl the important `features vof the invention, the cooperating rotor andxstator blade 'parts should be so arranged that Yin the' assembled multistage turbine the rotor can :slide longitudinally within the stator when the deviceis disassembled. Y Below shoulder lll there is a space between rotor 6 and section lf2, with which communicate passages 62 in the rotor. `These passages lead into the hollow lower-.end 64 of the rotor, which has `a lower- -threaded end te for receiving a `drill The .deviceso described-operates as follows.:

v- The device is lowered into the ground as shown irl-Figure lfleither vstarting at the top of the ground or vin -a hole already partly drilled. The` drill stem or pipe is held against rotation in any suitablemanner.r `Mud of the type ordinarily l used in oilwell drilling is then pumped down through the drill pipe under pressure. This mud flows through the-space between nut 150 and the inner wall'of drill pipe 4.,*passages 30 and 32, 'the spaces-:between-ribs 24, passage 34, the space' below passage 34 between'the rotor bodyf and stator section lll, `and passage 54 to. the first stator stage of the turbine'.1 It then flows through the turbine, passing downward'from stag'etov vAA stage and driving the rotor .to cause the bit tof tamanoA drill-'the hole.y Aafter"leaving th'eflasr` stagefthe mud passes'into the space belowvshoul -der I4, and then through passages 62 and space ,l 64 to the interior of the drill bit. Then it iiows out through the usual holes in the drill bit, as'

`at.68, and upwardly around the outside of the stem in the usual manner.

" The arrangement shown is especially intended for easy and quick disassembly, repair and reassembly. To disassemble, the unit is rst un# screwed from the drill pipe. nut 50 and split ring 48 are removed, and section IIJ is unscrewed and.

removed from section I2, carrying with it ring ,2 6, spider 22 and both the inner and outer bearing elements. Ring 26 can then be removed and` the bearing elements can be taken out .for repairfmii;

or replacement if any is needed. Stator section I2 with bearing I8 can now be slid downwardly off of the rotor, leaving ring 52A above the rotor turbine blade rings. The statorJ rings can then be removed from the inside of"` section I2, and ring 52 and the rotor rings can'V be removed upwardly from the rotor body. ,This` makes the whole device easy to disassemble, re-i` pair and reassemble, since the stator and rotor.' .j

parts of the turbine can be -assembledseparately simply by stacking the rings one on the next, and

thereafter the rotor can be slide into the stator; Ring 52 and shoulders I4, 58 ensure the proper,

positioning of the rings with respect to each other.

the reassembly of the unit.

, lThe ydashed construction and the method or, producing the rotor andv stator rings are shown n.

in, Figures. 4 to 12.

1 Figures 9 and 10 show the production of a blade g 1 `il() The procedure described is merely reversed in 4 forming slot, that is, of a slot forming one bladel of a-rotor stage of a turbine, in the rotor ring 55:

plane from the position shown in solid lines in. Figures 9 and 10 to the dotted line position, that is preferably until its shaft 'I4 abuts against the,v leading edge 15 of the slot I8 cut by the Whee1 Thisslot will have a substantially semicircular'` rear -wall 80, and thin side walls 82 at each edge of the ring 56. This provides a sloping slot Vor notch having ra* rear curved wall. When ilu/idv under pressure is pumped into the slot so formed., it will impart an impulse to rotor ring 56 to turnY towards the next statorstage. i

, Formation of the statorv ring 54 is shown in `Figures 11 and l2. Grinding wheel 'I2 is moved within the ring from one side preferably until shaft 14 substantially abuts against the edge .lof the ring. 'Ihe angle 12-12 of the plane of the' wheel is the same, with respect to the plane tan` gent to the inner face of the ring, asin cutting it clockwise (Figure 5) and will beV turned back the rotor blades. The wheel is moved while rez tating from the solid line position .shown in Fig ures 11 and l2 to the dotted line position,4 in which the diameter across the lower face of the wheel lies in the inner face of the ring, at theY leading edge of the slot so formed.

Preferably, rings 54 are made of the same height as rings 56, and this step is carried out at eachedg'e ofthe ring,` This produces in *each edge This grinding wheel is arasl'ot 84 having a leading edge 8B and a. curved rear wall 88 substantially in the form of a quarter circle, the two slots being separated by a thin dividing wall 90. When two of these rings-are placed one above the other, as shown in Figure 6, the mating blade-forming slot portions in adjacent edges form a turbine blade having a substantially semi-circular rear wall and thin side walls dividing it from the next blade. Mud flowing into such a blade from one rotor stage will be reversed in its direction of flow and will be' directed into the next lower rotor stage so as to impart a further turning impulse to the rotor: While in Figure 2 there are actually shown only a few turbine stages and only a few sets of bearing elements, it is actually contemplated that a very considerable number of each will be used. For example, turbine drills according to the invention may well have 9i) or more turbine stages and 70 or more sets of bearing elements. As these could be all alike, such large numbers are not shown in the drawings. i While I have described herein one'embodiment of'my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend'to limit myself thereby except within the scope of the claims hereto or hereinafter appended.

I claim: 1

' 1. An oil well drilling device comprising a turbine having a stator anda rotor, means: to secure thek stator to a drill pipe. means secured to the rotor to hold a drill bit, said rotor having a pas-v sage therein capable of communicating with th'e mud passage of a drill bit connected-thereto', said; turbine being adapted and arranged to receive and be driven by drilling mud pumped throughz the drill pipe, said rotor `comprising a rotor body portion, va plurality of superposed rotor rings surrounding said rotor body portion, and means locking said rotor rings against rotation with re-1 spect-to said rotor body portion, each such rotor ring having a plurality of blade forming slots cut into its outer face, the rear faces of said slots being curved, said slots lyingin'planes generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the turbine andl forming a small angle withthe tangent planes vof the rotor rings at the points of entrance of allel to the longitudinal axis of the turbine and,

forming a small angle with the tangent planes of the stator rings at the points of entrance of the slots.

, 2. An oil well drilling device comprising a turbine having -a stator and a rotor, means to secure the stator to a drill pipe, means secured: tothe rotor to hold a drill bit, said rotor havinga passage therein capable `of communicating with the mud passage of a drill bit connected thereto, said turbine being adaptedand arranged to receive and be driven bydriliing -mud p umped through they drill pipe, said'rotor comprising a.-

rotor body portion, a plurality of superposed rotor rings surrounding said rotor body portion, and means locking said rotor rings against rotation with respect to said rotor body portion, eth such rotor ring having a plurality of blade forming slots out into its outer face, the rear faces of Said, gleaming-,curved vsaid Sietaz-lying, planes ,generally :parallel-to V`.the longitudinal '.axlsof the turbine .and .forming asmall `angle :with the tangent `planes 'of fthe "rotor rings at .the ,points .of entranc'efof the slots, and :said stator comprising a stator body portion, a'plurality of superposed stator .rings within vsaid body portion. 'and means locking Vsaid vstator rings against rotation with respect .to the :stator body portion, each :such

stator .ring having a. plurality of .blade `iorming slots -cut into its t-inner face, :the rrear faces of said @slots being curved, said yslots lying in `planes generally parallel `to the longitudinal axis .of the turbine .andorming va small angle :with thetangent :planes yof :the .stator :rings at the points of entranceof fthe slots, the blades formed by such vslotsbeing .generally semi-circular, and the zeenters-,of the rotor'blades 'being staggered longi-` tudinallyof 'the turbine with :respect :to the centersof the stator blades, An oi1;well `drilling devicecomprising a tur-1 bine having a-.statorand a rotor, means to secure the stator to a drill pipe, :means secured to the rotor :to .holdaa drill bit, said rotor having a pas-l sage therein capable lof communicating witl'rthe mud passage of a drill :bit connected thereto, said turbine .being .adapted and arranged to re? ceive arid' be driven by drilling mud pumped through the drill pipe, said stator comprising a stator body portion;V plurality of superposedV stator .rings within said body portion, and means locking said .stator .rings against rotation with 4. An oil welldrilling device comprising a-turl bine having a stator and a rotor, lmeans to secure the stator to va drill pipe, means secured tothe rotor to hold a drill bit, said rotor having a passage therein capable of communicating with the mud 'passage of a drill bit connected thereto, said turbine being adapted and arranged to receive and be driven by drilling mud pumped through the drill pipe, said stator comprising a stator body portion, a plurality of superposed stator rings within said body portion, and means locking said stator rings against rotation with respect tofthestator body'portion, such stator rings having in both edges thereof a plurality of slots each in the'v general form lof a quarter circle, lying in' planes generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the turbine and forming a' small angle with the tangent planes of the sta-tor rings at the points ofentrance of the slots.' the slots in the meeting edges of adjacent stator rings mating to .form

semicircularblade'slots. I l

.5. An oil well drilling device comprising a, my-

bine having'a stator and a rotor, means to secure thestatorto a 'drill pipe, means secured to the rotor to hold ladrill bit, said rotor having a pas sag-e' therein capable of communicating `with the mud passage oi' a drill bit connected thereto, said turbine Ybeing adapted and arranged to receive and be driven Aby drilling mud pumpedy through the drill pipe, said rotorcomprising a rotor body portion, @plurality of superposedrotor rings surv rounding said rotor'f bodyportion',- and means locking said rotor rings .against rotation with respect vto said rotor body portion, -eaeh such lrotor `ring-.having ya plurality of 'blade `forming slots vout into its outer face, the rear faces of said slots 'being` curved, said slots lying in planes .generally parallel to the longitudinal yaxis 'of the turbine and .forming a small ang-le with Athe tangent planes of the rotor rings at the points of entrance of the's'lots, 'said slots in the rotor rings 'being substantially semi-circular, and vsaid stator comvprising a stator body portion, aplurality ot superposed stator rings within said body portion, and means locking said stator rings against rotation with respect: to the stator body portion, veach such stator ring having in at least Ione edge thereof a plurality of slots *each in the general form of a quarter circle, lying in planes generally parallel to the longitudinal axis `of the turbine yand forming 9,V small angle with the tangent planes fot the stator ringsat the points of entrancer of the slots-and the "next stator ring having at least in its adjacent edge a plurality of'slots 4each in the form of a complementary quarter circle and mating with said iirst slots to form 4semi-circular stator blade slots, the centers -of the rotor blades being staggered longitudinally of the turbine with respect to the centers of the stator blades.

6. An oil well drilling device comprising a .sup-` f port part adapted to be releasably secured tothe lower end of a drill stem, a rotor having a body including a portion rotatable within said support part, bearing means between' said support part and said rotor portion, releasable means on said rotor portion'for holding the bearing'means with respect thereto, said rotor portion having all its parts above said bearing means other thansaid holding means of' no greater'external diameter than the-internal diameter of said bearing means whereby said support part and bearing means can be'removed upwardly from said rotor portion4l` when said holding means are released, a stator adapted to be releasably secured to the lower end of said support part, said rotor extending within said stator, said rotor and stator having cooperating means thereon forming a multistage turbine, said stator having no part. above any part of the rotor of a given external diameter of less internaldiameter than such rotor part, whereby said 'rotor' can be slid upwardly out of the stator when the stator is released from the support part, means at the lower end of said rotor to hold a drill bit, said rotor having a passage therethrough connecting the exhaust side of the turbine with the-mud'passage of a drill bit connected thereto,

, 8. In a device as claimed inlclaimdlsaid tur- Av bine forming means including a plurality of superposed stator rings within and keyed to the stator and having'blade forming .slots in their inner' faces; y v Y 9. Ina device as claimed in claim 6', said turbine forming means including a plurality of superposed rotor rings laround and keyed to the rotor body and having blade forming slots in.

their outer faces, and plurality of superposed stator rings within and keyed to the stator and having blade forming slots in their inner.faces. said rotor rings lying completely within. and said 9 stator rings completely without, a, common cyl- Number inder. 2,348,046 GEORGE P. WAGNER. 2,348,047 2,353,534 REFERENCES CITED 5 2,354,587 The following references are of record in the 2,410,810 le of this patent: 2,43%,135 UNITED STATES PATENTS '249 041 Number Name Date 460,369 Ganan sept. 29, 1891 10 Number 708,227 Hewson Sept. 2, 1902 9,417 871,341 Jaeger Nov. 191907 13,191 963,927 Oesterblom July 12, 1910 59.931 1,482,702 Scharpenberg Feb. 5, 1924 242,855 1,770,489 Lachamp et a1 .my 15, 1930 15 33,559 1,993,963 Heinze Mar. 12, 1935 363,957

Name Date Yost May 2, 1944 Yost May 2, 1944 Yost July 11, 1944 Franck July 25, 1944 Cronstedt Nov. 12, 1946 Watson Dec. 9, 1947 Badger Feb. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1904 Great Britain Mar. 9, 1905 Austria July 10, 1913 Great Britain Nov. 19, 1925 Netherlands Sept. 15, 1934 Great Britain Mar. 17, 1932 

